Friday, February 16, 2018

10 years on

This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.

I was living in the, literally, divided city of Mitrovica at the time feeling a very eery unease:
http://agreatdayforkites.blogspot.com.au/2008/02/eery-unease.html?m=1http://agreatdayforkites.blogspot.com.au/2008/02/eery-unease.html?m=1

Which unfortunately seems to still be the case:
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/news/fear-stalks-kosovos-divided-mitrovica-city-032535333.html

The horrid pollution I experienced back then also looks set to stay and possibly worsen:
https://theecologist.org/2018/feb/13/why-kosovo-going-ahead-lignite-coal-power-plant-extremely-expensive-and-dangerous

Last week saw their first winter Olympics representative walk the flag in the opening ceremony. While there is much to celebrate and hope for the future, there is a nagging feeling that the ingrained corruption and wilful ignorance of environmental sustainability means real progress could be a long way off.

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